bigglesfandomcom-20200215-history
Cozens
In Biggles in Australia, Cozens was an Australian pilot employed by von Stalhein's espionage network in Australia. The first time Biggles heard of Cozens was when Qantas pilot Jimmy Alston reported that he had seen a known associate of von Stalhein named Smith buying a used aircraft at Cloncurry. With Smith was a pilot. The transfer papers of the aircraft, an Auster J1 Autocrat registration VH-NZZ, have the name of the pilot as Cozens. Cozens was a new pilot who had just got his commercial licence a few months before and working for von Stalhein was his first job, over the next few weeks, he was employed on various transportation chores for the spy ring. He flew Adamsen from Perth to Tarracooma and also took someone to Eighty Mile Beach to burn the lifeboat belonging to Toto Wada. He later flew an Australian aborigine to Darwin Airport. Biggles first met Cozens when he landed at Darwin to fetch von Stalhein to Daly Flats. Biggles, noting that he wasn't really a member of the gang but only an unwitting employee, hinted to Cozens that he should "watch his step" because he didn't really know the kind of people he was working for. This remark had Cozens worried and he later sought out Algy, Ginger and Bertie for an explanation as being a new pilot he didn't want a bad record. Algy told Cozens that he was really working for an enemy spy network. At first Cozens did not take this news seriously but later admitted that this explained a lot about the flights he had made. He was shocked to learn that the aborigine he had delivered to Darwin was there to attack and set fire to the Otter amphibian. Cozens went on to Algy more about his employers and their bases but was prevented from completing his revelations by the arrival of Erich von Stalhein and Ivan who took Cozens away and later bundled onto the lugger Matilda which started sailing up the Daly River towards Daly Flats. The next day, when Algy and co. did not see Cozens at the airport, they suspected that the spy network must have taken him away. Knowing that the Matilda was in harbour, they suspected this might be where Cozens was and took off in the Otter to look for the ship. The Otter sighted the Matilda with Cozens onboard somewhere along the Daly River. Cozens, on seeing the aircraft, seized a chance to escape and dived straight into the water, ignoring the fact that it was infested by crocodiles. By a superd feat of airmanship, Algy landed the Otter downstream of the Matilda and picked up Cozens, bringing him back to Darwin. At Darwin, Cozens declared that he intended to return to Daly Flats in his Auster to pick up his kit and collect his back pay, even though air traffic authorities had grounded his aircraft. This boldness astonished Algy who remarked that Cozens epitomised "The Voice of Young Australia". Cozens would not be stopped so, falling in with his plan, Ginger and Bertie accompanied him to Daly Flats while Algy remained behind to meet Biggles who had gone away to report to Australian security police in Sydney. Cozens, Ginger and Bertie arrived at Daly Flats to find that the Australian aborigines around the area had risen in revolt and had killed most of the occupants of the station there. Ivan, who had just landed fromt he Matilda amd Smith, whohad gone to meet him were also killed. With the Auster set on fire, Cozens, Ginger and Bertie took refuge in the farm building and used the weapons found inside to hold off attacks from the aborigines until Biggles arrived with Colonel MacEwan of the Australian security police and restore order. Cozens was not prosecuted for his role in the spy network nor punished for his violation of air traffic instructions in taking off for Daly Flats. He was even awarded compensation for the loss of the Auster. This may be a little bit of a windfall for him. As noted earlier in the book, Smith had paid for the aircraft although Cozens' name was listed in the transfer papers. Cozens was later employed by Qantas as a Constellation pilot. Category:People Category:Biggles characters Category:Air Police era characters